WASHINGTON — United States Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) last week introduced their ‘Loser Pays’ legislation as an amendment to the health care bill. The amendment would decrease the number of frivolous lawsuits that increase the cost of medical care for all Americans.

“Reform of medical malpractice is one of the key, missing ingredients from the health care reform proposals being debated in Congress,” said Senator Graham “A ‘Loser Pays’ system is one of the best devices available to prevent frivolous lawsuits from costing all of us. When both parties in a lawsuit are subject to financial penalty, people think longer and harder about bringing a questionable case forward. Most western nations already have a ‘Loser Pays’ rule, and it is time our own country adopts this concept. The Senate debate on health care is among the most important debates we have had. I hope we have a chance to vote on our important amendment.” Continue Reading via The Daily Citizen

In a rare but not unprecedented move, the Senate met through Saturday and Sunday to top off the first week of reform debate. Aside from President Obama meeting with the Democratic Caucus on Sunday afternoon, several amendments did come up for a vote:

Insurer executive compensation. An amendment offered by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) that would have limited the deductibility of health insurance company executive compensation to $400,000 per year attracted support from 56 senators—but fell short of the 60 votes needed to win approval.

Lincoln had argued that her amendment would have helped encourage insurance company executives to recognize patients’ interests first. She added that since the early 1990s, the rate of insurers’ revenue being spent on patient care has fallen to about 90% to 80%. Continue Reading via Media Health Leaders

Changing the way your doctors get paid may improve your health care — and make it cheaper.

It’s an idea the state plans to test in what may be one of the largest health care delivery and payment reform experiments in the country.

Since 1965, the year Medicare was created, the cost of health care has steadily increased. By 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) predicts national health expenditures will reach $4.4 trillion, or about one-fifth of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP.)

Part of the problem, experts believe, is the way doctors and hospitals get paid: The so-called fee-for-service model rewards volume, not quality. In the gray areas of medicine where best practice isn’t well-defined, it can lead to wide — and costly — variations in care. Continue Reading via Salt Lake Tribune

With the second wave of H1N1 infections having crested in the United States, leading epidemiologists are predicting that the pandemic could end up ranking as the mildest since modern medicine began documenting influenza outbreaks.

Experts warn that the flu is notoriously unpredictable, but several recent analyses, including one released late Monday, indicate that the death toll is likely to be far lower than the number of fatalities caused by past pandemics.

The predictions are being met with a mix of skepticism, relief and trepidation: Public health officials worry that people may become complacent about getting vaccinated, which could prove disastrous if a third wave of infections swells later this winter or the virus mutates into a more dangerous form. Continue Reading via The Washington Post

The end-of-the-year holidays can be a happy, wonderful occasion, when staff can celebrate 12 months of hard work with a party, some tasteful decorations, and a few days off. Or a medical practice can become a place of rancor when celebrations hit an off-note, staff get injured decorating the office, and vacation policies result in time off being allocated in a way that is perceived as unfair.

Experts say your practice can foster the first scenario and make the latter less likely by asking the staff how they want to celebrate and doing so in a way that reflects the values of the practice.

“There’s enough stress on everyone. You don’t want to add to it,” said Demetrian Dornic, MD, medical director of the Eye Specialists of Carolina in Raleigh, N.C.

“We look at our employees as very valuable. I want them to feel appreciated.” Continue Reading via AMedNews.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Doctors and hospitals should stop using a device from Steris Corp. to sterilize surgical tools after reports of malfunction, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

The company’s modified SS1 sterilizer device has not been cleared as safe and effective. Users have reported problems that could result in patients becoming infected from unsterile instruments, according to an FDA a statement released late Thursday.

The FDA recommends physicians begin using alternative devices as soon as possible.

Steris shares plummeted $4.17, or 12.5 percent, to close at $29.14 Friday. The company did not return a call for comment.

FDA officials told reporters Friday that they are ”considering all available options,” against Steris, but did not elaborate on a specific actions. Continue Reading via The New York Times

A STATEMENT from WVU Hospitals, Page 2-A. A WVU Hospitals surgeon hopes to identify employees who allegedly violated patient privacy laws in anonymous letters sent to the state Board of Medicine and other entities.

Bader Giggenbach, an attorney for Dr. Ehab Akkary, is seeking copies of the letters he believes were sent to The Dominion Post and other media. He sent a notice to The Dominion Post last week advising the newspaper to preserve e-mails or letters about Akkary, a bariatric surgeon at Ruby Memorial Hospital and an assistant professor for the WVU School of Medicine.

“We expect that the e-mail or emails that The Dominion Post has will have an electronic trail, and we want to follow that trail,” Giggenbach said.

The Dominion Post Editor Geri Ferrara said this move is unusual.

“The notice of intent to possibly subpoena material connected to unpublished material is rare,” Ferrara said. “However, I can assure our readers that we will do whatever is necessary to protect the people’s right to freely share information with us without fear that we will hand it over to anyone who asks.” Continue Reading via Individual.com

MOSES LAKE — The state agency that licenses doctors has accused a Moses Lake cosmetic surgeon of unprofessional conduct for performing breast reduction and liposuction on a 15-year-old girl.

Dr. Thomas Laney was practicing in Seattle in 2005 when he did the surgery, which the state Medical Quality Assurance Commission alleges he lacked the education and training to perform.

Laney is accused in the commission’s statement of charges of botching the breast reduction, putting the teen’s nipples back in the wrong place — too high and too close to the center.

“Overall, the patient’s breasts now have an aesthetically odd and unnatural appearance,” the commission said.

The charges also allege Laney shouldn’t have agreed to perform liposuction on a 15-year-old.

“Liposuction carries significant risks, including necrotizing soft tissue infection that can lead to significant tissue loss and death,” the commission said. “(Laney) should have refused to perform the procedure and, instead, recommended a proper diet and exercise program for weight loss.” Continue Reading via Tricity Herald

Dylan Blankenship was a surprise. “A gift,” said his dad, Dewayne.

The Blankenships’ time with their gift was short.

Dylan died at 6 months old after contracting a blood-borne bacterial infection called meningococcemia. The infection is treatable with antibiotics if caught early enough.

In August, a St. Louis jury awarded Dewayne and Suzanne Blankenship a $6 million verdict in the wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit filed on behalf of their son.

It was the largest such verdict this year, and one of the largest ever in the city. The jury found that the hospital’s doctors missed all the obvious signs of Dylan’s ailment. They didn’t give him antibiotics. They didn’t give him intravenous fluids. They didn’t even unzip his sleeper. Continue Reading via St Louis Post Dispatch